The only commodity worth buying in 2009

In May 2008 the JSE All Share rushed to an all-time high of 33233 points. Investors couldn’t get their hands on enough mining shares, ploughing into the likes of BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Sasol and the platinum majors. It’s the type of feeding frenzy that usually signals the top of a market – but greed clouded judgement – and few could resist the promise of further upside. Today these investors are licking their wounds as the All Share Index (down 39%) and Resources Index (down 54%) wallow miles below those highs. What happened?